ICMR's report on deaths due to sudden heart attacks to be out in two months: Mansukh Mandaviya

Mansukh Mandaviya at Rising India initiative

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, on March 29, said the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) study on the connection between a sudden rise in cardiac arrests and COVID-19 will come in the next two months.

During a ministerial fireside chat at News18's Rising India Initiative, the Union health minister acknowledged the rising number of deaths due to heart attacks after COVID-19.

"The ICMR has started a study. The data on vaccination and comorbidity is with us. I was told that the report will come in six months. Three to four months have passed and within the next two months that report should come," Mandaviya said while addressing the audience.

The minister also said that a review of data generated from the death cases due to heart attacks is being done by researchers at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi.

"The data of comorbidity and vaccination is there. The AIIMS is studying it and the report will tell us the reason," he added.

Commenting on the COVID-19 vaccine development in India, the health minister said the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing was scaled up to not only meet India’s requirements but also for exports.

"At the beginning of COVID-19, it was predicted that India will see a catastrophic effect, but today at the global level India is being praised for its best vaccination drive and COVID-19 management, even Bill Gates praised us," he added.

The comments from the Union minister came after the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare asked the ICMR “to give evidence-based clarification based on the findings of its planned studies on this”.

"Currently, there is insufficient evidence/data to prove whether the rise of myocardial infarctions and sudden deaths have been due to COVID-19 vaccines, but these cases of sudden deaths due to myocardial infarctions have increased post-COVID,” the panel headed by Rajya Sabha lawmaker Bhubaneswar Kalita said.